The three Reddits

In addition to the right-Reddit, there is now a left-Reddit, sponsored by Lena Dunham and advertised by leftist press-release reprinter TechCrunch, previously known for doxing Mencius Moldbug.

Given the Rabid Puppies and so on, it seems likely that fandoms will pillarize. I hear that the interactive fiction world has already split along political lines: choice-based interactive fiction is apparently associated with the left, and parser-based interactive fiction with the right. To round out the pillars, is there a Christian interactive fiction industry? Christians are one of the two groups in America that have completed the process of pillarization—Christian rock, Christian colleges, Christian video games, even a Christian brand of mints (yes, really; they sold them at the Adventist store when I was young, and yes, there are such things as Adventist stores)—so it wouldn’t surprise me. Then again, Rod Dreher doesn’t seem to think there’s such a thing as a Christian pillar.

American cartoons are mostly left-coded, leaving the right with anime and My Little Pony.

And the Ghostbusters reboot—at a time when the studios are seemingly incapable of coming up with new ideas, and relying mostly on, of all things, comic-book superhero films—is being marketed with the same techniques as Hillary Clinton (and, arguably, as 12 Years a Slave): you should consume this product because it is politically obligatory for Right-Thinking People to consume this product. If this strategy works, it will be reused.

The Dutch parties, deciding to recruit their followers exclusively from an ideologically clearly defined group, had to anticipate two consequences—a desirable and an undesirable one: By pillarization they could ensure a longlasting, nearly blind loyalty but on the other hand they had to accept a strict limitation of their sphere of influence, because all members of different religious or ideological groups were by definitionem beyond reach. …

They compared the disadvantages of limiting their sphere of influence with the big advantages: if a realistic chance could be expected to gain a majority, pillarization would be the best strategy possible for gaining both: majority and loyal voters.

And remember that Dutch pillarization was functional because of the strong tradition of cooperation among the elites of the different pillars.

4 responses to “The three Reddits”

I am not sure evangelical Christians have actually achieved pillarization. I know all that stuff exists, but it’s rootless. The classic tribal societies had the idea of a mythical ancestor a couple generations back that linked them, if you ask an evangelical Christian what she thinks her great-great-great-grandparents would have thought of Christian rock, of Christian politics, of Christian education, I think she would immediately understand that they would disapprove.

American [Protestant] Christians are arguably pillarized, but they’re only a few decades and a few hundred miles separated from Bang Haitians For MLK Progressives, which is why they are predictable Adopt Haitians For Jesus Christians right now.

It’ll only take a relative handful of renegade Blue elites like Misters Trump and Thiel to achieve a more solid, strong and permanent pillarization, however.